Jeans -- Sneak Peek

Not much time to post today but I wanted to share a few peeks at my jeans. They should be finished soon!

Time for Play

OK, I admit it. I've been playing around... I'm currently working on my own pair of jeans for Pants Pants Revolution. I was going to say that this was the most fun a girl could have with her pants off but I don't think that sounds too good...

I'm hoping to have this project sewn up by this weekend -- then it's time for all of the nieces to get back together and wear our jeans out in public. I'm pushing for Sunday but some of them are taking a little longer to sew than others.


I'm trying to use as much of my stash on my pants as possible so that I'm "wearing my stash on my pants" -Boy is that fun!! When the needle and thread came out to play, Katie bar the door!! I love how these little turkey work tufts came out on the "L" -- kind of reminds me of the tufts on a chenille bedspread.

Following that playful note, I want to tell you about this great book I received for Christmas. It's a daily "Awe-manac" and it's full of bits of inspiration, fun and playful observances on a day by day basis. It has a lot of writing cues but I extrapolate those to include my needlework.


Here is what today's page reads...


Today's my husband's birthday so he's an Aquarian. I read him his characteristics this morning before he left for work and his chest puffed out a bit with ownership.

Another truly inspirational book that's been around a while is this one...The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women. I read it about five years ago but look at it often since it's on my bookshelf of "keepers". Judy turned my attention back to this book when she posted about this online book group that is reading this book - one chapter at a time. Jamie Ridler, a creative coach and hostess of the book exploration, is covering a secret a week for the next 12 weeks, including interviews with artists each week pertaining to that week's secret.

Don't worry, we're only on Secret #2 this week and Chapter 1 is very short if you want to catch up. Here's a link to a FAQ if you're interested.

Secret #1 is Acknowledging Your Creative Self and Secret #2 is Honouring Your Inspirations. Chapter 2 is one of my favorite sections so I may post about that one all by itself. I learn a great deal from other people's creative processes and the self-reflection helps me fine-tune mine.

Judy also turned me on to the Creative Every Day "Challenge" which really isn't a challenge per se, but an intention to be Creative Every Day in 2009. Each month has a theme and January's is Play! Isn't that perfect for today?

Here's to you and your time to Play!

From Japanese to Jeans...

It's taking me a little while to get back in the groove, but today I finally feel like I'm getting there. Last Saturday, I returned to Japanese embroidery after quite a long break and attended class for the first time since Mom died. It felt good to be there and to be re-immersed in my work.


I'm working on finishing "Gracie". This is a piece I've been working on for far too long and it's time to just get her completed so she can join her other friends on my wall. This is Phase VI of ten phases in my study of Japanese Embroidery called Eternal Grace but many of us refer to her as just "Gracie". I think she's quite lovely and a pleasure to stitch.

Today, I am stitching all of the knots that go over the metal thread "grid" that I laid on the blue foundation silk. This makes the undergarment of the kimono look tufted.


My goal for 2009 is to stitch 10 hours of Japanese embroidery per week or 40 hours/month. My teacher believes that I will probably be able to finish Gracie by class time next month if I stick to that schedule. So far, so good.

I had lots of questions about how to go about making a pair of jeans so I posted some more detailed pictures here today. Hopefully, this will answer your questions but feel free to email me if you have any more.

First, take your pair of jeans and remove the seam on the bottom of the pants....


Unfold the seam and iron in place. You can see that you will get at least one more inch to the hem of your jeans when removing this seam. Next, you remove the seam on the outside leg of the pants, NOT the inseam.


I remove the seam up to and no more than 1/3 up the thigh of the leg. That way, you won't have a bulky seam sticking out where the bulky part of your thigh is.... Not that any of you have bulky thighs...


Lastly, when you open up the leg of the jeans, it gives you a flat space on which to sew your fabrics.


I sew on the fabrics using a straight stitch which leaves a nice raggy effect on the patches when the jeans are washed. If you don't like that look, you can always zig-zag the pieces around the edges of the fabric which will limit the fraying.

Have a beautiful day!

Pants Pants Revolution Anyone?

I've gotten such a wonderful response from many of you about the jeans that my nieces have designed and I am sewing. I have 9 more pairs to sew together in the next two weeks...so that means, you'll be seeing lots of pants on this blog for a while.

I was wondering if anyone else is interested in making a pair too? Even though my deadline is the end of January, we could adjust that for anyone willing to make a pair too. So many of you commented that you were too old or too ____ to wear a pair... Well, I'm making a pair for myself and intend to wear them so you won't be alone. Maybe all you need is an excuse? Here's your chance.

I think we should truly have a Pants Pants Revolution and channel the Spirit of the Stitching Pants so that we all make a pair of awesome jeans with items from our stash so that we're inspired every time we wear them.

OR, maybe you have a daughter, granddaughter or a niece to make a pair for??

OK, I might be alone in this. If I am, that's OK, because I'm a revolution unto myself with only nine pairs to go... I guess we'll be revolutionizing our own little family.

For those wondering if you can squeeze it in, it doesn't take too long -- probably just a few hours to rip out the sides and bottoms seams, cut pieces from your favorite fabrics, and sew them down on the pants. I slit the outside seam of the jeans 1/3 up the thigh -- that's because girls don't want any extra bulge around their thighs. I also taper trim the seam but I'll show that all to you as the weeks progress...

So, what do you say, do you have an old pair of jeans to use? It's great if you have a pair of child's pants that are too short since taking down the hem lengthens them about an inch or so (depending on the brand).

Come on!! Anyone else want to play Pants Pants Revolution?

Jeans for the Journey

My niece Carolyn has spent the last three weeks at home after spending a semester abroad in Brussels. Today she leaves to return to her third year at the University of Wisconsin as a Journalism major.


Yesterday, I finished her jeans from Pants Pants Revolution so she could take them back with her.


And she was kind enough to cooperate for a photo shoot.


Jack is getting a little tired of being my "subject" all the time while I'm taking my photography class...

She did a great job, don't you think?


I also promised to show you the beautiful bobbin lace that she found for me while she was in Belgium. It was just the perfect gift for this Aunt who plays with needles. The doilies at the bottom were from my sister who picked them up for me when she visited. Isn't it all just a pile of wonderfulness?


In order to make these jeans, I just slit the side seams so that I could sew the fabric pieces on the flat, open leg.


I then sew the jeans back together with the raw edges facing out and I don't finish the bottom of the jeans at all. This ends up with a very raggy, cool and relaxed look after many washings. The kids seem to like them better this way.


I'm off to be the Head Housekeeper today at Chez Elliott. Have a great day!

Pants Pants Revolution -- Part One

Sunday was a very exciting day at my house.

Remember those nine nieces I'm always talking about? Well, I invited them all here to my house on Sunday afternoon to decorate jeans with fabric....


I called it Pants Pants Revolution which is a play on words for the very popular video game called Dance Dance Revolution...

I had no idea what to expect for this day. I put together a slideshow of ideas that I'd collected from Flickr and Etsy and showed it to them first thing. I also had blank jean templates so that they could design on paper if they wanted to.

After seeing the slideshow and all of the great fabric, the girls got right to work. The older ones, ages 8 and up, designed and decorated their jeans for over five hours. I can't wait to show you some of the creative ideas they came up with! It was inspiring for me to be around them!

Peace signs were, by far, the most popular theme and they made them in every color and size... also popular was Day-of-the-Dead sugar skulls, cupcakes, tropical hibiscus flowers, mod girl fabric, music, and big dots...

The three younger ones, came up with a plan, picked out their fabrics and went off to play. They were only good for an hour or so which is what I expected.

The older girls cut out the fabric shapes and pinned them to their pants...



I was inspired to do this party by a Sewing Stash Contest issued by Kaari Meng at French General. The main rule is that you can't buy anything new and you must use items from your stash. So all the fabric came out of my closet and exploded into piles and piles of fabric profusion!!



We made a big, beautiful mess!


I had plans on making myself a pair of jeans to enter into the contest (this will be the only pair I send in...) but then thought I would use a lot more fabric if I included all the girls. It was just beyond fun!! The contest ends on January 31 so I need to get sewing!!


The next phase of Pants Pants Revolution comes when they are all finished and we wear them out to a photo shoot and lunch together in either Ellicott City or the Mall. We're having tea again this year on Friday but, with company here, there's no way I can finish them by then so it will probably take me a few weeks.


Plus, I need to spend time with Jack this week before he goes back to school. He was a great help at the party by watching the littlest while the rest of the girls created.